STATISTICS OF THE CRIMINAL SANCTIONS AGENCY 2012 statistics 2012
Contents Concepts List of tables Prison services Communitys sanctons List of figures Preface 1 1 Sanctions 3 1.1 Overview of the development of the penal system 3 1.2 Enforcement of sentences 4 2 Prison service 6 2.1 Development of prison population 6 2.2 Prison population structure 8 2.3 Order and safety 11 2.4 Recidivism among released sentenced prisoners 12 3 Community sanctions 14 3.1 Client volumes in community sanctions 14 3.2 Structure of community sanction client base 16 3.3 Social circumstances of community sanction clients 18 3.4 Participation in activities among community sanction clients 19 3.5 Punitive measures employed in community sanctions 19 4 Prisoner activities 20
Concepts Supervision of conditionally sentenced young offenders A person who has committed an offence when under 21 years of age may be subjected to supervision for 15 months in order to reinforce conditional imprisonment, where this is to be deemed justified in view of the social adaptation of the offender and the prevention of further offences. Supervision of parolees Almost without an exception only a specified proportion of a prison sentence is served in prison. Parole, also known as conditional release, refers to the release of a prisoner serving unconditional imprisonment to serve the rest of the sentence in freedom. A prisoner released on parole is ordered under supervision if the probation period is longer than one year, the offence was committed when under 21 years of age, or the prisoner so requests. Length of time in prison In this publication, the length of time served in prison is used in two different connections: it is used as the cumulative data on prisoners released within one year and the cross-sectional data on prisoners in prisons on 1 May. The data differs from each other because the cumulative data emphasises short sentences and the cross-sectional data long sentences. Juvenile punishment Juvenile punishment was piloted in 1997-2004. On 1 January 2005, the Juvenile Punishment Act entered into force and the punishment was extended to cover the whole country. Juvenile punishment can be sentenced for an offence committed under the age of 18 years if a fine is considered too lenient a sanction and there are no weighty reasons requiring unconditional imprisonment. A juvenile punishment sentence can last from four to twelve months. Juvenile punishment consists of supervision appointments, guidance and support promoting coping in society and orientation to employment. Juvenile prisoner In the prison statistics, juvenile prisoners mean prisoners who serve a sentence of imprisonment in a juvenile prison. The decision on ordering to a juvenile prison was made by the Prison Court. The Prison Court was abolished and the concept of juvenile prisoner was omitted from the legislation in connection with the total reform of the legislation on imprisonment on 1 October 2006.
Prisoner in preventive detention In the prison statistics, a prisoner in preventive detention refers to a dangerous recidivist, who was ordered to isolation in preventive detention by the Prison Court. A prisoner in preventive detention could not be released on parole in standard time but he or she served the sentence in full in prison. The Prison Court was abolished and the concept of prisoner in preventive detention was omitted from the legislation in connection with the total reform of the legislation on imprisonment on 1 October 2006. Fine default prisoner A fine default prisoner is a person serving a conversion sentence for an unpaid fine. A conversion sentence is passed on a person who has been sentenced to a fine and from whom the collection of the fine has failed. Remand prisoner A remand prisoner is a person imprisoned due to a suspected offence. The imprisonment is decided by the court. As a rule, a person remanded due to an offence has to be taken, without a delay, to a prison or an institution approved to hold remand prisoners by the Ministry of Justice. The period of loss of freedom that has lasted continuously at least one day is deducted in the enforcement of the sentence. Monitoring sentence The act on monitoring sentence entered into force on 1 November 2011. A monitoring sentence can be imposed instead of an unconditional prison sentence not exceeding six months if there is an obstacle to sentencing to community service. Prior unconditional prison sentences and monitoring sentences or the nature of the offence may prevent the passing of a monitoring sentence. Another precondition is that the monitoring sentence has to also maintain and promote the social abilities of the accused offender. An offender serving a monitoring sentence can move outside his or her home only if it is determined in the schedule. The use of intoxicating substances is prohibited for the duration of the whole sentence. The sentenced offender is monitored with the help of both technical devices and surprise visits to his or her home. Sentenced prisoner A sentenced prisoner is a prisoner who serves a sentence of unconditional fixed-term or life imprisonment, or a sentence of conditional imprisonment that has been ordered to be enforced and/or a remaining sentence after having forfeited parole.
Average number of community sanction clients The average number of community sanction clients is based on the average number enforced community sanctions. In reality, the average number of clients is about 200-300 lower because one person can have several community sanctions that are enforced simultaneously. Community service Community service can be sentenced instead of an unconditional prison sentence not exceeding eight months. It mainly consists of unpaid nonprofit work. The precondition is that the sentenced offender is suitable for community service and consents to it. The Criminal Sanctions Agency prepares a suitability assessment and the court makes the final decision on community service. The length of community service varies from 20 to 200 hours. Community service can also be imposed as an ancillary sanction to a conditional imprisonment exceeding 12 months in which case the maximum length is 90 hours. LIST OF TABLES Prison services 1. Prisoners in prisons according to gender, prisoner group and prison type at the beginning and end of 2012 2. Average daily number of prisoners according to prisoner group in 2003-2012 3. Average number of under 21-year-old remand and sentenced prisoners in 2003-2012 4. Sentenced persons arriving in prison from freedom according to prisoner group, gender and prison type in 2012 5. Sentenced persons arriving in prison from freedom according to prisoner group in 2003-2012 6. Released prisoners according to grounds for release, gender and prison type in 2012 7. Released sentenced prisoners according to served sentence term, gender and prison type in 2013 8. Length of conversion sentences for unpaid fine completed in 2012 9. Released prisoners according to prisoner group and gender in 2003-2012 10. Length of time served in prison (%) by released prisoners in 2003-2012 11. Prisoners released on parole in 2003-2012 12. Number of life sentence prisoners at the beginning of the year in 1992-2013 as well as commenced life imprisonments within the year,
released life sentence prisoners and average length of the served sentence in 1992-2013 13. Supervised probationary freedom in 2007-2012 14. Principal offence of sentenced prisoners on 1 May in 2003-2012 (%) 15. Age groups of sentenced prisoners on 1 May in 2003-2012 (%) 16. Calculated length of time served in prison by sentenced prisoners on 1 May in 2003-2012 (%) 17. Number of previous prison sentences of sentenced prisoners on 1 May in 2003-2012 (%) 18. Average number of foreign prisoners according to prisoner group and their share of all prisoners in 2003-2012 19. Principal offence of foreign sentenced prisoners on 1 May in 2003-2012 20. Nationalities of foreign prisoners on 1 May 2012 21. Prison leaves in 2003-2012 22. Escapes and unauthorised leaves in 2003-2012 23. Prisoners use of time in 2003-2012 (%) 24. Prisoners and prisons in 1975-2012 25. Recidivism of sentenced prisoners released in 2003-2007 (%) within a five-year follow-up period according to gender, age and previous prison sentences Community sanctions 26. Average daily number of community sanction clients in 2003-2012 27. Enforcement of community service in 2003-2012 28. Supervision of parolees in 2003-2012 29. Supervision of conditionally sentenced young offenders in 2003-2012 30. Enforcement of juvenile punishment in 2005-2012 31. Enforcement of monitoring sentence in 2012 32. Principal offence of community sanction clients according to sanction in 2007-2012 (%) 33. Age distribution of community sanction clients according to sanction on 1 May in 2004-2012 (%) 34. Community sanction clients according to gender on 1 May in 2004-2012
35. Socio-economic background of offenders carrying out community service on 1 May in 2003-2012 (%) 36. Socio-economic background of supervised parolees on 1 May in 2003-2012 (%) 37. Socio-economic background of supervised conditionally sentenced young offenders on 1 May in 2003-2012 (%) 38. Socio-economic background of offenders serving juvenile punishment on 1 May in 2004-2012 (%) 39. Socio-economic background of offenders serving monitoring sentence on 1 May 2012 (%) 40. Community sanction clients participating in programmes in 2008-2012 (Started community sanctions) 41. Use of punitive measures in community sanctions in 2005-2012 Tables in the text A. Prisoners use of time (%) of the overall time on weekdays in 2012 B. Number of prisoners in different activities in 2012 C. Sentenced prisoners not placed in activities of all sentenced prisoners (%) D. Participation in prisoner activities in closed and open prisons according to gender and previous prison sentences E. Participation in prisoner activities in closed and open prisons according to principal offence F. Participation in prisoner activities in closed and open prisons according to length of time served in prison List of figures 1. Prisoners arriving from freedom, released prisoners and average number of prisoners per year in 2003 2012 2. Principal offence of sentenced prisoners on 1 May in 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012 (%) 3. Calculated length of time served in prison by sentenced prisoners on 1 May in 2003 and 2012 4. Average number of foreign sentenced and remand prisoners and their share of the average number of all prisoners in 1996-2012 5. Prison leaves in 2003-2012
6. Average daily number of community sanction clients in 2003-2012 7. Averages and proportions of prisoners and enforced community sanctions in 2005-2012 8. Principal offence of community sanction clients (%) on 1 May in 2008-2012 9. Age distribution of community sanction clients (%) on 1 May in 2003-2012 10. Breakdown of prisoners use of time on weekdays in 2012 (in activities n= 1 739 prisoners on average/weekday)
Preface The aim of this statistical publication is to provide a wide range of information about the Criminal Sanctions Agency s client and prisoner numbers, client structure and activities. Besides portraying the current situation of the criminal sanctions field, the publication also offers insight into the development of the field over the past decade. This statistical publication replaces the prisoner statistics discontinued by Statistics Finland in 2009 and contains information not only about prisoners but also about community sanctions. The publication describes client volumes and changes therein, and also presents statistical data relating to the enforcement of sentences and prisoner time use. The statistical data are based on the information systems in use at the Criminal Sanctions Agency. Owing to certain systemrelated restrictions, the time series on community sanctions are imperfect in some respects. While primarily addressed to our own organisation in the criminal sanctions field, the publication is envisioned to provide also other individuals and organisations interested in the activities of the Criminal Sanctions Agency with answers to their frequent questions about prisoners and community sanctions clients. The theme for the current statistical publication is prisoners' use of time. Topical themes are to be reviewed also in upcoming issues. 1
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1. Sanctions 1.1. Overview of the development of the penal system When measured by prison population, Finland currently ranks among countries of moderate criminal policy. First adopted in the 1970s, the change in criminal policy aiming to reduce the prison population has indeed delivered a reduction of one third. Despite intermittent increases, since the 1990s the prison population has remained equal to that in the other Nordic countries. Initial steps taken in the interests of reducing the prison population involved the wider use of fines and conditional sentences. The introduction of community service and juvenile punishment in the 1990s represented a watershed for the criminal sanctions field. Of the two, community service rapidly became an established sanction throughout the country whereas the juvenile punishment failed to catch on. The possibility of converting unconditional imprisonment sentences of eight months or less into community service also contributed to the decline in the prison population. The need to further improve the penal system and to locate new alternative means of punishment has become heightened since the 1990s owing to the increasing level of complexity in crime and the underlying issues. Reforms concerning individual sanctions as well as the penal system as a whole were introduced in the 2000s. The scope of discretion available in imposing supervision on young people was increased in 2001 as part of the legislative amendments concerning conditional imprisonment. Under the amended statutes, young offenders who were between the age of 15 and 20 at the time of commission of the crime could be ordered under supervision for a probationary period in order to foster their social adaptation and to prevent recidivism. In 2002, it became possible to impose community service as a supplementary sanction to a sentence of conditional imprisonment of more than 12 months. The enactment of the Imprisonment Act in 2006 marked a shift towards systematic and consistent enforcement. Parole-related statutes were also revised in connection with the Imprisonment Act and supervised probationary freedom was introduced. Probationary freedom may be granted no earlier than six months before regular release on parole. Release units were moreover established as part of the measures related to the controlled and gradual release of prisoners. 3
The conversion of unpaid fines into imprisonment was scaled back on several occasions in the mid-2000s. Since 2008, it has no longer been possible to convert summary penal fees into imprisonment. The acts concerning the investigation of the circumstances of young offenders and the supervision of conditional imprisonment of young offenders entered into force in 2011, as did the act on the monitoring sentence. Under the act concerning the investigation of the circumstances of young offenders, a pre-sentence report must be prepared on all offenders between the age of 15 and 20. The report focuses on the types of sanction and support measures that would best promote the young person leading a crime-free life. The act on the supervision of conditional imprisonment of young offenders introduced higher requirements on the supervised offenders with regard to control visits and sobriety. Activities to promote social coping may now be included in the supervision of young persons. The act on the monitoring sentence makes it possible to serve sentences of unconditional imprisonment of no more than six months long under electronic monitoring at one s own home or another location deemed suitable. Support measures to promote social adaptation may also be incorporated into a monitoring sentence. 1.2. Enforcement of sentences 4 The sentences enforced by the Criminal Sanctions Agency are divided into prison sentences and community sanctions served in freedom. Community sanctions comprise supervision of parole, community service, supervision of conditionally sentenced young offenders, juvenile punishment and, as of 1 November 2011, monitoring sentence. Prisons are responsible for the enforcement of unconditional prison sentences and fine-conversion sentences imposed by the courts. In addition, prisons also implement remand imprisonment together with the police. The enforcement of community sanctions is the responsibility of the community sanctions offices. A new authority of the criminal sanctions field was introduced in Finland at the beginning of 2010 when the former Criminal Sanctions Agency as well as the Prison Service and the Probation Service operating under it were united into a single authority called the Criminal Sanctions Agency. Under the new authority, Finland is divided into three criminal sanctions regions, those for Southern, Eastern and Northern, and Western Finland. The basic units of the Criminal Sanctions Agency are
the community sanctions offices and the open and closed prisons. At the end of 2012, there were a total of 15 community sanctions offices and 26 prisons in Finland. The prisoner places are divided so that 71% are in closed prisons and 29% in open prisons or open prison units. 5
2. Prison service 2.1. Development of prison population The prison population started to rise in the early 2000s and peaked at the middle of the decade, at which time the number of prisoners was 36 per cent higher than at the turn of the millennium. In 2006, the prison population again started to decline. In 2012, the average daily number of prisoners was 3 236, which is down by 17 per cent from the figure in 2005. In 2012, the average daily number of remand prisoners was 626, which was five per cent more than the year before. Over the past decade, the number of remand prisoners has increased by over a quarter and their share of all prisoners has risen from 15 per cent to 19 per cent, whereas the number of fine default prisoners has seen considerable decline since the mid-2000s. In 2012, the average daily number of fine default prisoners was 49, a reduction of 75 per cent from 2003, the year in which the number of fine default prisoners peaked. Female prisoners numbered 224 on average in 2012 and their share has risen since the early 2000s from five to seven per cent of the entire prison population. In 2012, the number of offenders arriving in prisons was 6 066. Roughly half of those, i.e. 2 744, were sentenced prisoners, 1 135 were fine default prisoners and 2 187 were remand prisoners. Approximately 12 per cent of sentenced prisoners were placed directly in open institutions, the figure for female sentenced prisoners being five per cent. 6 A total of 6 073 prisoners were released from prison in 2012. The figure breaks down as follows: 3 728 sentenced prisoners, 1 104 fine default prisoners and 1 241 remand prisoners. The average length of the prison terms served by released sentenced prisoners in prison was 9.3 months. The prison term of just under half of the released sentenced prisoners, i.e. 1 644, had been three months or less. Prisoners released after serving a term of over two years in prison numbered 339, which is equal to roughly nine per cent. About 40 per cent of all sentenced prisoners and nearly 50 per cent of those, who had served a term of more than two years, were released from open institutions.
Figure 1. Prisoners arriving from freedom, released prisoners and average number of prisoners per year in 2003 2012 9000 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 Prisoners arriving from freedom Released prisoners Number of prisoners on average 0 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 In 2012, fine-conversion sentences were served in full by a total of 1 755 persons. Two thirds of all fine default prisoners were serving a fine-conversion sentence only, the remaining one third were also sentenced prisoners or remand prisoners. Supervised probationary freedom has been in use since October 2006 and it represents a new step in the gradual release system. The aim of supervised probationary freedom is to promote the re-entry of prisoners into society at the end of their prison term. The 544 prisoners placed in supervised probationary freedom in 2012 represent a five-fold increase from 2007. With the rise in the number of prisoners placed in supervised probationary freedom, the number of cancellations of probationary freedom has also risen and it stood at 17 per cent in 2012. In 2012, the average daily number of prisoners in supervised probationary freedom was 150. The average length of supervised probationary freedom was 101 days. 7
2.2 Prison population structure The structure of the prison population has changed considerably in the 2000s. The number of prisoners sentenced for offences against property has been in steady decline, with the share of offenders sentenced for theft declining from 17 per cent to 11 per cent. All told, when in 2003 one in four prisoners had been sentenced to prison for offences against property, ten years later roughly one in six prisoners was serving sentences for theft, fraud, embezzlement, burglary or similar offences against property. At the same time, the share of violent offenders has risen. While in 2003, 16 per cent of all prisoners had been convicted of assault, in 2012 their share had climbed to 20 per cent. The share of offenders sentenced for homicide has risen from 19 to 23 per cent in the corresponding period. In summation, while in the early part of the millennium, the principal offence of nearly one third of all prisoners was a violent offence, by 2012 more than one quarter of all prisoners had been convicted of a violent offence. In the early part of the millennium, approximately two per cent of all prisoners had been convicted of a sexual offence, whereas ten years later sexual offenders account for just under four per cent of the prison population. The share of those convicted of drunken driving has varied between 12 and 14 per cent in the 2000s but, over the past couple of years, their share has started to fall. In 2012, drunken driving was the principal offence of nine per cent of all prisoners. Those convicted of drug offences have accounted for 14 18 per cent of the prison population. 8
Figure 2. Principal offence of sentenced prisoners on 1 May in 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012 (%) 50 45 40 35 30 % 25 20 15 10 5 0 Robbery Offence against property Violent offence Drunken driving Narcotics offence Other 2003 2006 2009 2012 The age structure of the prison population has changed in two ways in the 2000s. Firstly, the share of sentenced prisoners under the age of 25 has fallen by six percentage points in the past ten years. While under 25 year-old offenders accounted for 16 per cent of all sentenced prisoners in 2003, the current figure is 10 per cent. At the same time, the number of sentenced prisoners over the age of 50 has risen by three percentage points, from 10 to 13 per cent. The average age of sentenced prisoners is 37. For female prisoners, the average age is roughly a year higher. In the 2000s, the share of long-term prisoners has increased while the share of those serving terms of less than one year has decreased. In 2012, prisoners serving a term of less than three months accounted for eight per cent of the total prison population. A quarter of the prisoners were serving terms of 1 2 years. Roughly nine per cent of all prisoners were looking to serve terms of eight years or more, their share increasing by four percentage points over a decade. This increase is above all attributable to the rise in the number of prisoners serving life sentences. 9
Figure 3. Calculated length of time served in prison by sentenced prisoners on 1 May in 2003 and 2012 % 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Under 3 months Over 3 but under 6 months Over 6 but under 12 months Over 1 but under 2 years Over 2 but under 4 years Over 4 but under 8 years 2012 2003 8 years or more In 2012, first-time offenders accounted for just over one third of sentenced prisoners while 35 per cent were serving their third to seventh sentence. Nearly every fifth prisoner was serving at least his or her eighth sentence. The number of foreign prisoners has nearly tripled during the 21st century and their share of all prisoners has risen to 15 per cent. In 2012, the daily average number of foreign prisoners was 470, which was six per cent more than in the previous year. The share of remand prisoners was about 44 per cent. According to the prisoner structure survey of 1 May 2012, nearly 40 per cent of all foreign prisoners were Estonian or Russian nationals. All in all, 63 nationalities were represented in the prison population. Over 40 per cent of all foreign prisoners have been convicted of narcotics offences. 10
Figure 4. Average number of foreign sentenced and remand prisoners and their share of the average number of all prisoners in 1996 2012 500 20 18 400 16 14 300 12 10 200 8 6 100 4 2 0 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 0 Sentenced prisoners on average Remand prisoners on average Share of foreign prisoners of all prisoners 2.3 Order and safety In 2012, 74 per cent of the 14 749 prison leave applications submitted were granted. The share of granted prison leave applications has remained fairly constant over the past ten years, whereas the share of prisoners, who have breached the terms of their prison leave, has fallen by nearly third. In 2012, prison leave terms were breached on 454 occasions, equal to 4.3 per cent of all prison leaves used. 11
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 20000 Figure 5. Prison leaves in 2003 2012 20 000 10 18 000 9 16 000 8 14 000 7 Number 12 000 10 000 8 000 6 5 4 Prosenttia 6 000 3 4 000 2 2 000 1 0 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 0 Applied Granted Breached % Over the past ten years, the number of escapes has varied from a high of 29 in 2003 to a low of eight in 2007. In 2012, there were 17 escapes. Most of the escapes happened outside the prison walls, for example from job sites outside the gated areas and from prison officers or other officials escorting prisoners. Six prisoners escaped from inside prison walls. The number of unauthorised leaves from open prisons declined substantially in the early part of the 2000s and hit a low of 18 in 2005. Since then, the number of unauthorised leaves has again started to climb. In 2012, there were 62 instances of prisoners leaving open prisons without authorisation, which is as much as one quarter more than in the year. Unauthorised leaves from open institutions are not considered escapes. 12 2.4 Recidivism among released sentenced prisoners Table 25 depicts recidivism rates during a five-year follow-up period among sentenced prisoners released in 2003 2007. For the purposes of the statistical yearbook, a recidivist is defined as a person who subsequent to release commits at least one new offence, which results in a final sentence of unconditional imprisonment or community service. The follow-up period starts at the date of release and ends with the date of commission of the first offence or the date of death. Foreign nationals are included in the data set if they have been issued with a Finnish personal identity code.
During the five-year follow-up period, approximately two thirds of the released sentenced prisoners committed at least one offence resulting in a new sentence of unconditional imprisonment or community service. The key indicators of recidivism are criminal history and age: multiple offenders have a high risk of re-offending, and young offenders are more likely to return to prison than older ones. Recidivism is less common among women. 13
3 Community sanctions 3.1 Client volumes in community sanctions The average daily number of community sanction clients increased by 15 per cent in the 2000s and peaked in 2007 at 4 800. Since then, the figure has been in decline and in 2012, the average daily number of community sanction clients was 3 645 1. There has been some disparity in the trend in respect of the individual sanctions, however. In 2012, an average of 1 084 clients per day were subject to supervision of conditionally sentenced young offenders. The figure has declined by more than a quarter since the early part of the decade. The number of juvenile punishments was low to begin with and has only further declined to stand at 10 in 2012. The average number of supervised parolees increased in the 2000s by just under 50 per cent until 2007, when the figure stood at 1 785. In recent years, the figure has fallen to same level as in the early 2000s. In 2012, an average of 1 074 clients were subject to parole supervision daily. The number of persons in community service increased by roughly one quarter in the early part of the 2000s and peaked in 2005, when the average daily number of clients was 1 752. In 2012, clients averaged 1 458, which is 17 per cent less than in 2005. The number of requested suitability assessments has been on the decline. In 2012, the prosecution service submitted 5 357 requests for suitability assessments, 35 per cent less than in 2003. The number of favourable assessments was 85 per cent. 14 The first monitoring sentences were enforced at the beginning of 2012. In total, 198 monitoring sentences were enforced in 2012. A monitoring sentence was started by 143 persons and completed by 101. Over the year, the daily average number of those serving a monitoring sentence was 18 and the average length of the served time was 44 days. 1 The calculation method of the average number of clients serving community sanctions was revised in 2012. Earlier we counted the number of enforcements, now we count the number of clients. If a person has several sanctions of the same sanction form enforced simultaneously, the person is counted in the average number only once. If a person has different sanction forms enforced simultaneously, the person is still counted in each group. This has to be taken into account also in figures 6 and 7..
Figure 6. Average daily number of community sanction clients in 2003 2012 2000 1500 1000 500 0 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Supervision of conditionally sentenced young offenders Community services Supervision of parolees Despite the decline in the number of community sanction clients, community sanctions have accounted for a nearly unchanged share of all criminal sanctions. Last year, community sanctions continued to make up more than half of all sanctions enforced by the Criminal Sanctions Agency. Figure 7. Averages and proportions of prisoners and enforced community sanctions in 2005 2012 Imprisonment Community sanctions 2012 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 2012 15 2011 2011 2010 2010 2009 2009 2008 2008 2007 2007 2006 2006 2005 2005 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 Supervised probationary freedom Open prisons Sentenced prisoners, closed prisons Remand prisoners, closed prisons Supervision of parolees Community service Supervision of conditionally sentenced young offenders Monitoring sentence
3.2 Structure of community sanction client base The most common principal offences of conditionally sentenced young offenders ordered to supervision have been offences against property and violent offences as well as drunken driving. Violent offences and offences against property have been trending upward. In 2012, the share of those sentenced for offences against property was 37 per cent and the share of those sentenced for violent offences was 27 per cent. A fifth of the supervised young offenders were sentenced for drunken driving. Violent offences and offences against property account for approximately two thirds of principal offences of the supervised parolees. The share of violent offences has been increasing, whereas the share of offences against property has been decreasing. In 2012, the share of violent offences was 44 per cent and the share of offences against property was 26 per cent. Narcotics offences stand in third place, accounting for around 15 per cent of all sentences. In community service, drunken driving accounts for half of all principal offences, offences against property for roughly one fifth and violent offences slightly less. The share of drunken driving has been in gradual decline. Over half of monitoring sentences were sentenced for drunken driving in 2012. Offences against property, violent offences and other offences accounted for 15 per cent respectively. 16
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 20000 Figure 8. Principal offence of community sanction clients (%) on 1 May in 2008 2012 50 45 40 35 30 Procent 25 20 15 10 5 0 Offence against life and health Narcotics offence Drunken driving Traffic offence Offence against property Sexual offence Other 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 The share of young offenders under the age of 21 among all community service clients has fallen by roughly one third over the past decade. In 2003, 31 per cent of community service clients were under the age of 21, now the age group accounts for 19 per cent. Nearly 60 per cent of the conditionally sentenced young offenders ordered to supervision were under 21 years old. In the supervision of parolees and community service, the largest age group is 30 39-year-olds, who in 2012 accounted for approximately 30 per cent of both sanction types. 17
100 90 80 70 Figure 9. Age distribution of community sacntion clients (%) on 1 May 2003 2012 Procent 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 15-20 y 21-24 y 25-29 y 30-39 y 40- y In 2012, women accounted for just under 11 per cent of community sanction clients. In the supervision of conditionally sentenced young offenders, the share of women has varied from a little under to a little over ten per cent and was 13 per cent in 2012. In the supervision of parolees, women accounted for four per cent in 2004 and for eight per cent in 2012. The share of women has clearly increased also in community service, where the change over the equivalent period was from six per cent to 12 per cent. Foreign nationals make up only a minor share of all community sanction clients. No exact data is available on the number of foreign nationals subject to community sanctions. 18 3.3 Social circumstances of community sanction clients Unemployment among community sanction clients has remained high, with more than half of all clients on average being out of work. The highest unemployment rate is seen among supervised parolees, of whom 60 per cent were unemployed in 2012. Roughly one tenth of those in community service or on supervised parole were pensioners. The share of the employed varies depending on the type of sanction. In 2012, the employed accounted for nearly 30 per cent of those in community service, one fifth of supervised parolees and 15 per cent of conditionally sentenced young offenders ordered to supervision, of whom one fourth were students.
In the supervision of conditionally sentenced young offenders, the share of those with permanent accommodation has remained fairly stable over the past ten years at 80 84 per cent. Among those in community service, 85 per cent had permanent accommodation in 2012. In the supervision of parolees, the share of those with permanent accommodation has risen by 11 percentage points over the past decade to stand at 70 per cent in 2012. The share of those with no fixed abode has nonetheless remained fairly high, with the homeless accounting for just under 9 per cent and those with temporary accommodation for just under 17 per cent. 3.4 Participation in activities among community sanction clients Activities available to community sanction clients consist of activity programmes influencing criminal behaviour and substance abuse programmes. The programmes currently offered are Cognitive Skills (CS), Traffic Safety Course, Traffic Safety Programme, Steering Wheel Programme, Anger Management and Behaviour-Interviewing-Change Programme. The share of programmes and substance abuse treatment has increased. In 2012, a total of 582 clients took part in programmes, the most popular being the Behaviour-Interviewing- Change Programme, the Substance Abuse Course and the Traffic Safety Programme. Most of the participants in these programmes had been sentenced to community service. 3.5 Punitive measures employed in community sanctions The punitive measures used in the supervision of parolees are a written warning, a request to be fetched by the police, and a notification to the prosecutor. In 2012, a total of 105 punitive measures were imposed on supervised parolees, equal to roughly six per cent of the number of the parolees under supervision during the year. 19 The punitive measures used in community service are a written caution, a prohibition to start enforcement, a prohibition to continue enforcement and an interruption of enforcement. In 2012, a total of 968 written cautions were issued, which equalled approximately 34 per cent of all ended enforcements. In addition, 435 community service sentences, i.e., approximately 15 per cent of all ended enforcements were interrupted.
4 Prisoner activities According to the Imprisonment Act (Vankeuslaki 767/2005), prisoners are obliged to participate in activities arranged or approved by the prison at the confirmed working and activity hours (duty to participate). Prisoners can be relieved in full or in part from the duty to participate if so required by their state of health, functional ability or age. Remand prisoners are not obliged to take part in activities arranged in the prison. The prisoners use of time and participation in activities can be monitored in various ways based on the amount of hours or individuals both on prison and regional level as well as nationwide. The figures can be calculated in regard to, for example, all prisoners, prisoners serving a sentence or sentenced prisoners. The use of time can be measured separately on weekdays or on all days. There are many alternatives. Prisoners use of time based on hours 20 Every hour of the prisoners use of time during the activity hours is recorded. In statistics, the prisoners use of time is divided into so-called active, passive and administrative hours. The active hours refer to the activities arranged for prisoners during the working hours, i.e., work, education and other activities, such as activity and rehabilitation programmes, arranged or approved by the prison. The administrative hours consist of, among others, court appearances, prison leaves and sick leaves. The hours when the prisoners do not participate in activities are so-called passive hours. The combined participation hours can be divided by the length of the regular working and activity hours, which is 35 hours per week and seven hours per day. Thus, we get a figure that describes the average daily amount of prisoners in each activity. Furthermore, we can calculate how the hours are divided between different activities, for instance, at annual level.
Figure 10. Breakdown of prisoners use of time on weekdays in 2012 (in activities N=1 739 prisoners on average/ weekday) 8 % 15 % 36 % 9 % 5 % 3 % Production Real estate maintenance Open prison /civilian work Domestic care Education Other activities Sick Not placed in activities Other passive time 10 % 4 % 10 % Work activities for prisoners are divided into production work and rehabilitative work. The objectives of rehabilitative work are connected with learning basic employment skills and onthe-job learning. The forms of work activity in prisons include, among others, car repair shop work, textile and clothing production, laundry service, arts and crafts work, carpentry, metal work, sign production as well as work related to raising livestock, agriculture and forestry. Work activities in prisons have steadily decreased in the 2000s. In 2003, about 41 per cent of the prisoners overall use of time consisted of work activities. At present, the share is 32 per cent. In the mid-2000s, when the prison population peaked, nearly 1 500 prisoners worked daily. Last year, the number of prisoners working was 1 060. Education in prisons is organised in co-operation with outside education institutions. Both general education (i.e. basic education and general upper secondary education) and vocational upper secondary education are arranged for prisoners. A permit for university and polytechnic studies may be granted in the form of distance learning. The share of education of the prisoners overall use of time has varied between eight and ten per cent and it was about ten per cent in 2012. Most of the education consists of learning or building on vocational skills. However, the share of orientating and rehabilitating education and guidance has been rising in the past few years. The study skills of prisoners are poor due to, for instance, increased substance abuse and mental health problems. Vocational education leading to a qualification is not suitable for all prisoners without a period of orientating education. 21
Over the past few years, prisoner activities have been developed in a more individual and rehabilitating direction. The used programmes can be divided into two groups. Influential programmes are meant for sentenced offenders with a high or medium risk of recidivism, whereas the purpose of shorter motivation programmes is to arouse the sentenced offenders interest in the improvement of their own life situation. In practice, the activity programmes can also be divided according to what the programme aims to influence. In Finland, the criminal sanctions field uses three types of activity programmes. General programmes aim to influence the criminal behaviour. Crime-based programmes are meant for persons who have committed specific offences, such as violent or sexual offences. Substance abuse programmes are part of the substance abuse rehabilitation. The goal of these activities is to change criminal behaviour and reduce recidivism. The share of participation in programmes of the overall use of time has varied annually between six and ten per cent. In the early part of the millennium, just over one third of the prisoners use of time consisted of so-called administrative or passive hours. At present, their share is already about half. The factors preventing participation in activities are connected with the rise of the prison population, the insufficiency of staff resources, the lack of facilities for activities in certain prisons, the multiple problems of prisoners, and the prison security. 22
Table A. Prisoners use of time (%) of the overall time on weekdays in 2012 Prisoners serving a sentence Remand prisoners Closed prison Open prison Prisoners serving a sentence Men Women Foreign nationals Finnish nationals In-house services 13,8 8,2 14,5 12,8 13,5 18,6 11,8 14,1 Education 9,5 2,7 7,7 12,6 9,6 7,2 4,2 10 Programmes 5 0,9 6 3,1 5 4,5 1,3 5,4 Civilian work, own work and open prison work (formerly 6,1 0 0,2 16,6 6,3 3,7 8 5,9 work in open work colonies) Rehabilitative work 8,9 7,3 10,4 6,2 8,6 12,2 17,5 7,9 Occupational work 6,8 0,9 5,7 8,7 6,7 7,7 10,5 6,4 Individual and family work 0,4 0,1 0,3 0,5 0,4 0,7 0,2 0,4 Planning and monitoring of the sentence term 2 0 3 0,3 2,2 0 3 1,9 Supervised probationary freedom 5,9 0 1,2 14 5,6 9,1 2,1 6,3 In activities in total 58,3 20,1 49 74,8 57,9 63,7 58,6 58,3 Not placed in activities 30,6 49,8 41,1 12,1 31,2 23,3 30,5 30,7 Being transferred or at court 1,4 3 1,4 1,5 1,4 1,8 1 1,5 Outside with or without prison leave 2 0,2 1,2 3,5 2 2 3,5 1,9 Sickness, examination and treatment 3,2 2,6 2,8 3,8 3,1 4 2 3,3 Other use of time 3,4 3,2 3,3 3,6 3,3 4,6 3,1 3,5 Weekly free-time 1 1 1,1 0,8 1 0,7 1,3 0,9 Passive time in total 41,7 59,7 51 25,2 42,1 36,3 41,4 41,7 All in total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 Participation in activities is the most common in open prisons where three quarters (75%) of the available overall time was spent in activities. It is least common among remand prisoners who spend one fifth (20%) of their time in activities. Female prisoners (64%) take part in activities, especially in-house services and rehabilitative work, slightly more than men (58%). There are no major differences in the overall participation in activities between foreign (59%) and Finnish prisoners (58%) serving a sentence. However, the differences in the contents are significant: Finnish prisoners take part in education and programmes considerable more often than foreign prisoners, whereas foreign prisoners participate more in work activities. 23 Prisoners participation in activities accounts for approximately 63 per cent of the available time. When calculating the participation percentage, only those hours are taken into account when the participation would have been possible. The adminis-
trative hours, i.e. hours when the prisoners are, for instance, at court or otherwise absent from activities for an approved reason, have been excluded from the calculation. The participation and non-participation in activities are influenced by various factors dependent or independent of the prisoners. Closed prisons have less arranged activities because of reasons linked to, among others, logistics, discipline and prison security. In addition, the prisoners poor state of health affects their placement in activities: regrettably few prisoners are fully capable of work. On average, over ten per cent of regular working and activity hours consist of so-called administrative time, such as transfer days, court appearance days, sick leaves or prison leaves. Prisoners use of time based on individuals When calculating the number of prisoners participating in activities (number of individuals), the duration of the activity is not relevant because also very short participations are included. It has to be taken into account in the calculation that a prisoner can participate in many different activities even during one day. Besides the number of prisoners participating in each activity in a year, the number of individuals can also be used to monitor the rotation speed, i.e. the number of times the prisoners of one activity place have changed in a year. Table B. Number of prisoners in different activities in 2012 24 Amount % In-house services 2627 5,8 Education 1527 3,4 Programmes 2322 5,1 Civilian work, own work and open prison 678 1,5 work (formerly work in open work colonies) Rehabilitative work 1886 4,1 Occupational work 1087 2,4 Individual and family work 2848 6,2 Planning and monitoring of the sentence 1738 3,8 term Supervised probationary freedom 664 1,5 Not placed in activities 7876 17,3 Being transferred or in court 4809 10,6 Outside with or without prison leave 2334 5,1 Sickness, examination and treatment 3155 6,9 Other use of time 4326 9,5 Weekly free-time 7685 16,9 IN TOTAL 45576 100
The Criminal Sanctions Agency has paid attention especially to prisoners serving a sentence who, for one reason or another, do not participate in activities at all. The share of inactive prisoners is calculated as a cross-sectional data on the first weekday of each month. Prisoners, who only have entries of so-called passive hours or administrative and passive hours on that day, are counted as inactive. The figures concerning the whole year are calculated as the average of the cross-sectional data dates. Table C. Sentenced prisoners not placed in activities of all sentenced prisoners (%) 2010 2011 2012 All prisons 30 29,9 28 Closed prisons 42,5 42,4 37,4 Open prisons 7,2 8,6 11,6 The prisoners use of time can also be followed for the duration of the whole term of imprisonment. The Criminal Sanctions Agency carried out a research 2 where the data consisted of all Finnish sentenced prisoners released in 2008 (N = 3970). The share of prisoner activities (activity hours) of each prisoner during the whole prison term was calculated based on the data on the prisoners use of time. The share of prisoner activities of each prisoner was also calculated for the duration of a possible remand imprisonment and/or fine-conversion sentence. The research results showed the fact, which was long known in the Criminal Sanctions Agency, that the prisoners released from closed prisons participate in activities clearly less than the prisoner released from open prisons. The participation in prisoner activities of the sentenced prisoners released from closed prisons accounted on average for 21 per cent of their prison term. Every third of them (33%) did not take part in any prisoner activities and only every eight (13%) prisoner had participated in activities for over half of their prison term. In the case of the prisoners released from open prisons, the participation in activities accounted on average for 47 per cent of their prison term even though most of them had arrived in an open prison from a closed prison. Only two per cent of the prisoners released from open prisons had not participated in any prisoner activities during their imprisonment; in closed prisons, the amount of prisoners not participating in activities was as much as 31 percentage points higher. 25 2 Tyni, Sasu & Blomster, Peter: Vähentävätkö vankitoiminnot uusintarikollisuutta? Yhteiskuntapolitiikka 77 (2012):
26 Female prisoners participated in prisoner activities more commonly than male prisoners in both types of prison groups. Only every fifth female prisoner released from closed prisons had not participated in any prisoner activities during their imprisonment and the corresponding share among the female prisoner released from open prisons was just two per cent. According to the research results, the age at the time of release was connected to the participation in activities. The participation of the prisoners released from closed prisons was the lowest in the three youngest age groups. The average participation rate of the prisoners released from open prisons was clearly more even between the age groups (range 44-50%). On the other hand, the number of previous prison terms had no significant link to the participation in prisoner activities in the research.